European stocks declined this week as better-than-estimated earnings failed to ease concern a seven-month rally in equities has outpaced the prospects for economic and profit growth.
STMicroelectronics NV led a retreat in technology companies after Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC recommended selling the shares. Elan Corp sank 22 percent as its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri was linked to 23 cases of a potentially fatal brain disease. Valeo SA advanced 4.9 percent after posting a quarterly profit. Nestle SA climbed 7.1 percent as UBS AG advised buying shares in the world’s largest food company.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent to 244.89, following two weeks of gains. The regional gauge has rallied 55 percent since March 9, pushing its valuation to about 50 times companies’ reported earnings, near the most expensive level since 2003, weekly data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“It’s tough for companies to surprise on the upside because investors are anticipating better-than-estimated earnings,” said Markus Steinbeis, head of equity portfolio management at the German unit of Pioneer Investments, which oversees about US$221 billion globally. “Overall the environment for the equity market is good but the only headwind at the moment is high valuations.”
Stocks erased gains on Friday even after a report showed sales of existing US homes climbed last month to the highest level in more than two years.
GDP in the UK dropped unexpectedly in the third quarter as enduring slumps in services, manufacturing and construction kept the economy mired in its longest recession on record.
The UK’s Office for National Statistics said on Friday that GDP dropped for a sixth month, declining 0.4 percent in the third quarter from the second. Economists predicted a 0.2 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey.
National benchmark indexes fell in 13 of the 18 western European markets.
Germany’s DAX declined 0.1 percent, while France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.5 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1 percent.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
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